"Officials suspect economic woes caused some families to leave area." Bulletin, 9/16/09.
Gosh.....you think?
Question. Who's going to buy all the empty houses?
Here's where I'll insert my usual notice of Building Permits. There were 12 in Bend in August. Down 60%. What may be even more alarming, there was only one more permit for all the rest of Deschutes County -- which Sisters, Redmond, and LaPine. One.
Of all the predictions made a couple years ago on BB2, the idea that the population of Bend could actually drop seemed the most outrageous.
Doesn't seem so outrageous now, does it?
I must admit, though, that I'm getting a bunch of people in Pegasus who have "just moved here." I don't have the heart, anymore, to ask them if they have a job.
The local economic growth guy (Lee?) was quoted as saying he thought Bend would recover before the rest of the country. Whereas, I think that exact opposite.
For us to recover, we need to winnow down the housing inventory. For us to recover, we have to create some jobs.
But...as I've been saying for a couple of months, I do think there will be a wave of 'good' news following September, as the statistics begin to 'improve' over the abyss that was last fall.
I'm pretty certain that this month will be the first month I'll beat last year, for instance. But I don't really want to jinx it with half the month to go, so pretend I didn't say it....
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"The local economic growth guy (Lee?) was quoted as saying he thought Bend would recover before the rest of the country. Whereas, I think that exact opposite."
You're right, obviously, because Bend's prosperity was built on smoke and mirrors and bullshit to a greater extent than any other area of the country with the possible exception of south Florida.
But Roger Lee is director of economic development, and the job description requires him to be a booster.
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